cash buyers getting priority over DVC

[3kidz4dis]

I am just trying to make sure I understand the list of priority when DVC assigns the rooms. I have a friend who just made cash reservations for BCV for February and was told that they have 10 villas set aside for the public and then after those are sold, she would have to wait until 8 months before she travels to allow for the DVC members to make their reservations. So, my question is that as a member owning at a difference resort actually has to wait 1 month after cash reservations have already started one month before. So priority goes to the cash payer before a DVC member owning at a different resort.(by 1 month) Actually, it sounds like the 10 villas that are set aside are available even before BCV members can reserve there. Am I understanding that right?

 

[tjkraz]

Disney retains some ownership at each resort to offer rooms on a cash basis. They also get more points (and turn those points into vacant cash rooms) every time a DVC member uses points for an option outside of the 7 DVC resorts.

I've never read such a specific number of rooms before, but let's assume that the number you provided (10 rooms) is correct. Those are immediately available for anyone who wishes to pay cash for the room. Beginning 11 months prior to check-in, DVC members get access to whatever rooms remain (about 200 at BCV.) Then, 60 days before the check-in date, the rooms become somewhat interchangable. If DVC members haven't filled the resort (which, at BCV is pretty unlikely), cash customers have equal access to whatever is left.

But until that 60 day mark, it isn't really a case of cash members getting "priority", rather cash and DVC members each have their own pre-determined inventory from which rooms are drawn.

Does that help?

 

[RobDoc]

DVC members may also make reservations now for next February- it is inside the 11 month reservation prioirity.

Since the cash reservation was made thru CRO, I'd take any comment made by the CRO reservationist about a specific block of rooms being "held" for cash reservations with a grain of salt.

As tjkraz explained, DVD retains ownership of 2-4% of each resort and uses those to maintain inventory for renovation/repair and for cash rental. My understanding is that they have the same reservation priority (11 months) as other members.

Once the retained ownership has been accounted for, any other cash availability would come from points used by owners for non-DVC options (DCL, Disney Collection, Concierge Collection, etc.) until 60 days in advance when all unreserved villas are available to CRO for cash reservations.

Cash availability is consistent with the way DVC is supposed to work. It is certainly not deterimental to owners.

 

[brunoflipper]

I booked at 11 months and requested one of 18 possible buildings at OKW... When we checked in at 3 pm on March 15th, I was told only one two bedroom was available in the entire resort in building 50 (not any of the group I selected)... I asked her to double check but no luck... So we took 50 and made the best of it... At 7 pm, I am at the desk buying park passes, and who is checking in next to me but a cash paying guest... I know this only because I asked if they were members... I only asked them after I heard them get a 2BR in building 24... I waited for them to leave and asked the CM (the same one who checked me in) why I was not offered that room earlier... She then said that they had a "reservation" for that room through CRO and that I had the last "DVC two bedroom available"... I was stunned, started to rant but I just let it go... I bottled it up, and tried not to let it ruin my vacation... But because of this and other less than "magical" experiences... We've decided to sell our timeshare and just go back to renting points when we need them...

We also had a maid at 9 AM knocking and asking when we would "be leaving," We told her "11 AM"... She proceeded to (I am not kidding) sit on the bench outside our door for an hour until we actually left at 10...

Forgot to add, that aside from all of this we had a great trip and OKW otherwise great and VB was nearly perfect...

 

[dianeschlicht]

Bruno does bring up one interesting question. Are there certain buildings that are considered to be part of the 2-4% CRO retained inventory? Doc, do you know?

 

[CarolMN]

Brunoflipper - Respectfully, location requests are not guaranteed. I'd like to think that DVC members would have their requests honored ahead of cash guests, but that is not always possible to do. One of the advanatages to DVC is its flexibility - but for those who want to stay in a certain unit at a certain time, it is a disadvantage.

Sorry you didn't get your request - it happens to all of us and is one of the things we trade for the flexibility of the system. My assumption is that most (if not all) of the two bedrooms were already assigned by the time you checked in . Since your visit was during a busy time, it is certainly possible that most (if not all) of the rooms were preassigned. Those that were not were given to guests that arrived before you.

Best wishes -

 

[RobDoc]

No, there is no specific building retained by DVD. Remember that most of the 2-4% is used to maintain inventory when other rooms aer out of service for renovation/repair. The vast majority of cash reservations do not come from the DVD inventory anyway- they come from points used by members for non-DVC options. Cash reservations use the same policies as members- there have been only a few times when we've stayed in one of the buildings we "own".

In the case of the "cash" guest getting a building not offered to a member, I would suspect that it made a convenient response, but was not what actually happened. At 3pm, the room offered was likely the only one available, but the other building became available by 4pm (or later). Some rooms are blocked out for medical reasons or due to requests to be near other family members traveling in a group- regardless whether they are members or cash guests. In this case, the cash guest could well have been assigned that room inadvance and the CM made a poor choice of explanations to the member. (I'd assume the CM had no idea and no way to tell what rooms were available at 3pm and was just trying to offer some explanation- just chose a poor way to do so!)

 

[rascalmom]

Brunoflipper's point is interesting. We reserved one-bedroom villas through CRO at OKW during July of 2003 and 2004. One of those years encompassed July 4th weekend. In neither case did we check-in particularly early, and our reservations were made only a few months prior to our trips (3 to 5). Both years we were in building 24!

I feel so honored to get to post on the DVC board - we took the tour at SSR last week & are waiting on our paperwork. We're gonna be members!

 

[tjkraz]

But because of this and other less than "magical" experiences... We've decided to sell our timeshare and just go back to renting points when we need them...

Does that mean you're going to be taking fewer trips than you had originally anticipated?

I'm having trouble seeing the logic in selling if you still intend to use the same accommodations (which seems to be the main issue), albeit under less-favorable financial terms.

 

[sheryl0521]

We also had a maid at 9 AM knocking and asking when we would "be leaving," We told her "11 AM"... She proceeded to (I am not kidding) sit on the bench outside our door for an hour until we actually left at 10...

Just a comment on this,
During our stay at BWV in Feb., I learned that DVC Mousekeepers are paid according to the number of rooms they clean, not on a hourly rate as the hotel mousekeepers are paid. So this maid must have had your room as one of her rooms to clean for that day and would be paid for it. So she wanted to get in ASAP.
I also saw mousekeepers at BWV "stalking" their assigned rooms waiting for the guests to leave even though the "privacy please" signs were hung on the doors.
Just thought I would share....

 

[brunoflipper]

Does that mean you're going to be taking fewer trips than you had originally anticipated?

I'm having trouble seeing the logic in selling if you still intend to use the same accommodations (which seems to be the main issue), albeit under less-favorable financial terms.

yes, we are planning on not returning to WDW as often as we had initially (and previously) done...

 

[DrTomorrow]

yes, we are planning on not returning to WDW as often as we had initially (and previously) done...

So, either your recent experiences have soured you not only on DVC, but the entire WDW experience , or you'd already decided that you wanted to reduce the frequency of your WDW trips anyway, regardless of your DVC experiences....

Be well!

 

[brunoflipper]

So, either your recent experiences have soured you not only on DVC, but the entire WDW experience , or you'd already decided that you wanted to reduce the frequency of your WDW trips anyway, regardless of your DVC experiences....

Be well!

Fist off let me state that we are realistic and pragmatic, there is no pie in the sky here... We no that nothing, not even DVC or Disney, is perfect... Nor do we expect that we should be given every perk because we are "special"... And I completely understand room requests, I just found it a little odd that we were not offered to wait for that room if it was available later...

It was our fourth trip in 5 years (3rd with the kids)... The kids (2,5,6 yo) had as much/more fun just hanging out on the beach playing in the surf as they did at WDW... We had the kids set the pace and pick the events/rides and they just were not into it... Everything at WDW was a little too familiar for us and the kids...

As far as our decision to sell DVC, it has been based on a variety of factors... But as much fun as we had on our recent trip, we can't help escape the feeling that we are suckers for having bought in to DVC... I imagine some ghoulish DVC accoutant in the back of the HM laughing at the piles of money rolling in from DVC members... I realize that one can do the math and prove DVC pays for itself if you go often enough for long enough and thus it is abargain... But Disney does not do anything unless it makes money... And now I really think that with DVC you get what you pay for... And my concern is that it will continue to be less and less... I have genuine concerns about how the DVC resorts will be holding up in another 30 years... IMHO, the units are showing there age... I am in no way suggesting that anyone should agree with us or is wrong if they completely disagree... It is just how we now feel... Granted, we have a timeshare (8 family home ownership) in CO and as we out right own the shares in that (and it is a house that continues to appreciate), we have not felt the same about that...

Additionally, we are way too fickle for DVC... We want to go everywhere and see everything... I am afraid that if we stayed in DVC our family vacations would only be at WDW forever which is exactly what that creepy DVC bean-counter is hoping for...

Finally, We still love WDW and what it has to offer... We just don't want to stay married to it... So we are filing for a separation and maybe we'll have the occassional brief interlude with Mickey and the gang over the coming years but no lasting commitment...

 

[jaysue]

Additionally, we are way too fickle for DVC... We want to go everywhere and see everything... I am afraid that if we stayed in DVC our family vacations would only be at WDW forever which is exactly what that creepy DVC bean-counter is hoping for...

I think they wanted to make you the 1,000th haunt at the HM ride in MK

Enjoy the proceeds of your sale

:thewave:

 

[DrTomorrow]

Sounds like a good decision; best of luck!

 

[Dean]

Additionally, we are way too fickle for DVC... We want to go everywhere and see everything... I am afraid that if we stayed in DVC our family vacations would only be at WDW forever which is exactly what that creepy DVC bean-counter is hoping for...

Finally, We still love WDW and what it has to offer... We just don't want to stay married to it... So we are filing for a separation and maybe we'll have the occassional brief interlude with Mickey and the gang over the coming years but no lasting commitment...

This golden handcuff is certainly real to an extent. When we had the free passes, we concentrated on WDW and burned ourselves out to an extent. We do not go as often now and it's nice to be able to know i can rent out points (and other timeshares) when I need to. We also try not to let the rental issue drive our decisions either. I have a friend who I've mentioned before and owns a 1 BR in Keystone. He goes in Jan which is a down time and says he can't afford to use it Xmas, Feb or March due to the fact that he loses all his rental income if he does. And that' s how he can afford to keep it.

But I honestly think it's more the mental blocks and not the financial or lack of reasonable options that prevent people from trying other things. Translations, some are afraid of the options that are there and don't take advantage of them. Some convince themselves there are too many risks. Case in point, renting to use cash for DCL.

 

[skelooch]

I would have gone spastic if that had happened to me, there's absolutely no excuse for it, they know every room that's going to be available that day and should assign them on a first come first serve basis as guests check in and should be given a choice of what most meets their request. I know that requests are not guaranteed, but that was beyond stupidity on Disney's part.

I hope it never happens to me.

 

[DebbieB]

Brunoflipper - one possibility could have been one of you had a 2 bedroom dedicated and one had a 2 bedroom lockoff reserved. They may have also had a room blocked for medical reasons.

 

[dis-happy]

You know, it might make sense that the CRO rooms are kept in a specific area or building for one reason: doens't CRO get daily mousekeeping? It might make things easier and more efficient for both mousekeeping and guests if they are in one area. Just a thought.....

 

[tjkraz]

I would have gone spastic if that had happened to me, there's absolutely no excuse for it, they know every room that's going to be available that day and should assign them on a first come first serve basis as guests check in and should be given a choice of what most meets their request.

During high occupancy periods rooms are often pre-assigned to meet guest requests as best they are able, and there is little or no flexibility at check-in.

Pre-assignment actually gives guests the BEST chance of getting their requests. If you are booked into a 1B and there are 50 vacant rooms at the start of the day, the room assigner has many opportunities to try and fulfill the requests listed on your reservation. On the other hand, when resorts are using a Room Ready assignment process, guests only have access to the handful of rooms immediately available for occupancy when the guest arrives at the desk. Your "perfect room" may have already been given to a guest who arrived 10 minutes earlier.